C30 Ten Days and Three Days

Every tenth day, according to tradition, was the day Li Xin paid his respects to His Majesty Li Shimin when he went to the palace to pay his respects.

When Li Xin arrived at Taichi Hall to see Li Shimin, Li Shimin was sitting at a table, handling a stack of documents. He took two steps forward and knelt down, "This subject pays his respect to Your Majesty."

"Get up." Li Shimin casually said.

Li Xin stood up, walked to the side of His Majesty Li Er and sat down.

This was a very anti-ergonomic sitting posture, but it was the most formal sitting posture in the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Li Xin could only force himself to accept it. He silently missed the existence of the desk and office chair in his heart.

In order to match the height of the kneeling position, the tables and chairs that were familiar to him in the future had yet to appear in the Tang Dynasty. Most of the tables were low and short like the table Li Shimin was currently using, made of pear wood.

Seeing Li Xin sitting in a crooked position, Li Shimin jokingly scolded, "Are you sitting or not? Where's the appearance of a prince?"

Li Xin chuckled and said, "Even if I had the appearance of a prince, I still wouldn't dare to use it in front of His Majesty!"

Li Shimin laughed as he shook his head, "Where did you learn to be glib tongued!"

Li Xin smiled without saying a word.

Li Shimin lowered his head and wrote a few lines on the imperial report in his hand. He didn't seem to want to avoid Li Xin at all. Of course, Li Xin didn't want to see what was written on it at all. If possible, Li hopes that he will never have anything to do with the political affairs of the court. He felt sure that he would not be able to play with these old geezers who had immersed themselves in the office for so many years.

"You'll be eighteen this year, won't you, Xin?" Li Shimin slowly said.

Li Xin nodded and said, "Yes."

"So old …" It's about time to get an official position and start serving our country, isn't it? " Li Shimin glanced at Li Xin with a smile.

Li Xin was stunned.

In the Tang Dynasty, titles and official positions were two separate systems. Li Xin's title was Lord Chu, while his official position was blank. This is not common. The vast majority of the sons and daughters of the nobility would enter the office early, first obtaining a position and gaining experience before doing anything else. In the future, if they did anything good and became an official, they wouldn't be criticized for having such qualifications.

For example, Qin Huaiyu, at the age of fourteen, received an official position in the Right Thousand Ox Guard. Although it wasn't too big and was only a mere rank 7 military official, it was, after all, a close servant of the Son of Heaven. It was extremely honorable, and if it wasn't for the fact that Old Master Qin Qiong had a lot of face, an ordinary person wouldn't even be able to think about it.

Li Xin was about seventeen or eighteen years old, but he still did not hold any official positions. He only had a title, which meant that he was definitely a part of the Tang Dynasty. In Li Xin's memory, there were several times when Li Shimin wanted to give him an official position, but he was always rejected by the original Li Xin.

It seemed that it wasn't entirely a coincidence that he could possess this person. At least, his mind was filled with thoughts of eating and waiting for death. On the point of being a Prince of Peace, Li Xin and the original owner of this body had reached an agreement.

Li Xin immediately said to Li Shimin with a bitter face, "Your Majesty, this subject is very inexperienced, and I can't carry it on my shoulder. If I can't carry it, what is I supposed to serve my country with? I don't know anything. "

Li Shimin chuckled, "Don't lie to me, do you think I'm blind?" After he finished speaking, he began to recite, "The Misty Moon is in the vast sky, and it is the same even during the autumn of the Yin Han Dynasty. In the middle of the night, there was a feeling of nostalgia and joy … What kind of inexperienced person could compose such a poem? "If those civil officials in the court heard your words, I'm afraid there won't be many people who would have the face to meet you."

Li Xin forced a smile and said, "It's just a crooked poem that's just a joke. It's not worth mentioning at all. How did it alarm His Majesty?"

Only then did he remember that Li Shimin had a spy department under his command, called the Hundred Knights. Basically, nothing that happened in Chang An city could escape Li Shimin's notice.

Li Shimin said, "How could I not know? This morning, there were two censors who impeached you and that brat Qin Huaiyu. They said that you guys were making trouble out of ill intentions and did evil deeds to harm people. Is that true? "

"It is true." Li Xin could only admit to it. He did not believe that the Hundred Knights' spy would only find out his poem, but he did not find out that he and Qin Huaiyu were hitting people together. In any case, Li Shimin would not pursue such a small matter.

Li Shimin snorted and said, "Look at you, causing trouble outside all day long. If you don't find something proper to do for me, who knows what kind of trouble you might create for me!"

Li Xin hurriedly said, "In the future, I will definitely stay at home and not come out and cause trouble. Officer or something, let me go! I really don't know how to do anything! "

Seeing that Li Xin was adamant on not accepting any officials, Li Shimin sighed and said, "Your lazy personality... What a pity about your great talent! "

Li Xin knew his own business. He was well aware of how much talent he actually had. Even if he was full, it wouldn't be enough to make him drink a cup. He forced a smile and said to Li Shimin, "It's just a crooked poem, how can it be called talent? Poetry is only a path. They can write beautiful poems, but they can't prove that they can handle government affairs! "

Li Shimin laughed and said, "This brat really doesn't know his place and dares to talk nonsense about poetry as a small path. If those ministers heard your words, their petitions against you would fill the entirety of Tai Chi Palace! "

Li Xin chuckled and said, "So, this subject only dares to grumble in front of His Majesty."

Li Shimin shook his head and laughed, then continued, "Actually, your words are a bit biased. This dynasty's imperial examinations focused on poetry, and indeed, many useful talents were selected. " He raised his hand and threw over a memorial to Li Xin, indicating for him to take a look, and said, "This Dong Gui is born to be a scholar. He wrote well in poetry and did well.

Since Li Shi Min was willing to take a look, Li Xin could not refuse, so he picked up his memorial and glanced at it. After putting down the memorial, he asked, "What about the original accounts? Can I see it? "

It was rare to see Li Xin interested in official matters. Li Shimin was also interested in seeing Li Xin's opinion on this matter, so he gestured for the attendants to bring the items over. Not long after, the attendant returned with a thick stack of books.

Li Xin casually took out a book and flipped through it. He smiled and said, "With this little account, I can check it out in three days. This Lord Dong actually took ten days, how could he be considered an official! "

Hearing that, Li Shimin reprimanded angrily, "Nonsense! Dong Gui and two officials from the Ministry of Revenue had to go through the accounts day and night for ten days to find out that there was something wrong with them. How could you say that you could find out within three days? "Such nonsense, do you really want to be smashed again?"

Hearing that he had been slapped, Li Xin cried out: "Ah, the account really isn't that hard!"